“But, Seo-hyun.”
“Hm?”
“When we build the mutant village based on the World Tree, what should we do if there are mutants who don’t want to come?”
That’s a pretty important issue.
There could be mutants who value their freedom, or others whose hatred runs so deep that they’d choose revenge over the comfort the World Tree offers.
“We can’t force someone like that to stay. That would be basically a prison. But if someone refuses to come to the mutant village and acts purely out of revenge, we’ll have to gather the opinions of the other mutants and stop them somehow.”
“If possible, I’ll help too. Ah, and I forgot to say this during the negotiation earlier… Could you pass along one message to the governor?”
“What message?”
“Tell him this, If another incident like this happens again because of excessive discrimination against mutants, I won’t be helping next time. He’d better take care of mutant treatment properly.”
“…Got it.”
Mutants aren’t fools, and there’s no way all the built-up resentment will disappear overnight.
Building a mutant village is just a temporary measure.
It’s a fence to protect them, a way to give them space to cool their emotions—just a temporary fix.
In the meantime, the outside world has to make its own efforts.
So, a warning like this was necessary.
We helped this time, but if a second disaster happens because of mutant hatred, I have no intention of stopping it.
If they try to use me however they please, I’ll blow away the entire state government instead.
This much…
Yes, this much… I believe they’ll get the message.
“Ah, Deputy Director, thank you for your hard work. It must’ve been a long flight.”
“No, Director, you had it tougher than I did, haha. Looks like you handled things in a pretty flashy way, though.”
“Well… you could say that.”
“Anyway…”
I gave the Deputy Director a summary of what happened.
About the mutant village, and how to deal with the widespread hatred against mutants in the U.S., and so on.
“That sounds reasonable. But the situation was far worse than I expected.”
“Don’t even get me started. They tortured and massacred thousands of people, then used their corpses to create monsters and launch an attack.”
“That’s insane…! Ah, sorry. But—wait, are you serious? They massacred thousands of people?”
The Deputy Director’s eyes widened. A natural reaction.
“Word will probably spread soon. There were too many witnesses.”
“My god… what a horrifying thing.”
“The federal government will probably try to cover up this incident. But during the negotiation with the state government, we promised to reveal every detail of what happened.”
“To raise awareness?”
“Yes. To make it crystal clear what reckless hatred and discrimination against mutants can lead to. No matter how I look at it, the situation here is completely different from our country.”
It really hit me during all of this just how incredible the Director of the National Intelligence Service was.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if something like this had happened in Korea too.
“But understood. I’ll handle everything from here.”
“I’m counting on you.”
After finishing my conversation with the Deputy Director, I decided to visit the World Tree with Si-ah.
First, we needed to check its size.
Only then could we estimate how many mutants it could actually accommodate.
And when we saw the World Tree…
“Wow…”
The scale made it obvious at a glance why it was called the World Tree.
Just how tall was it?
No, forget the height.
How could a single tree be as big as a mountain?
“Amazing, right?”
“Didn’t you say last time that it would grow to around 500 meters when fully grown?”
“That’s right. But… I don’t know. It suddenly grew even more…”
“That looks more like a thousand meters now.”
And it did.
The World Tree had somehow grown to a height of about one kilometer.
Taller than the tallest structure in the world, this enormous tree—big enough to encompass an entire city, was overwhelming and awe-inspiring just to look at.
“With this, it should be more than enough for all the mutants in the U.S., right?”
“More than enough. It’s beyond enough. This thing is city-sized. At this scale, I feel like even all the mutants in the world could live here together.”
“Not quite. There are only a few hundred in Korea, but other countries have more. Right now, the number of confirmed mutants in the U.S. alone is around 5,000.”
“There were more than I expected.”
“Right? India and China probably have even more. Still, if it’s this big, it should be able to house all the mutants in the world without much issue… So space won’t be a problem.”
“The real problem is the system. But the state government has agreed to help a lot with that.”
“That’s already been settled.”
“Setting up the village, making laws for mutants, and building the system, That’ll all take some time. We’ll need to promote it too. Like: ‘Mutants, come here!’ Something like that. Once preparations are complete, California plans to launch a major promotional campaign.”
“Sounds good.”
“But, unnie.”
“Hm?”
Squish, squish.
I kept gently squeezing Si-ah’s cheek as she talked.
“Aren’t you getting tired of this?”
“Not at all. It’s thrilling every time. It’s the best.”
“Ugh… Anyway, that’s roughly how things are going to unfold.”
“Hope lots of people come.”
“I think they will. Mutants in the U.S. are probably all hoping for a place without discrimination or hatred. Of course… Like you mentioned earlier, there might be some who refuse to move in because they want revenge. In those cases, we’ll have to rely on help from other mutants and the federal government.”
“Well… Like I said earlier, if there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll do it. There are some pretty dangerous mutants out there. And if someone’s that far gone in their obsession with revenge, just let me know. That’s probably the best way to handle it.”
“Will you be okay? You’re still attending university, right?”
“Of course. My professor’s flexible about that kind of thing. So if I’ve got an agency schedule, I can legally skip class.”
“That’s a relief. Ah, do you want to check out the World Tree up close?”
“Yeah.”
I walked closer to the World Tree with Si-ah.
And then, I felt it, an overwhelming sense of freshness surrounding the area.
The irritation I’d been feeling melted away, replaced by a calming peace.
“…Does the World Tree have some kind of calming effect too?”
“It’s a sort of defense mechanism. Someone emotionally unstable might try to harm the World Tree, after all. That’s why I want to bring the mutants here. Just being near it brings peace of mind, and it helps suppress the impulses unique to mutants.”
If what Si-ah said was true, then this place could be paradise for mutants who struggle with self-control.
There must be some who cause chaos not by choice, but because they can’t help it.
“That’s incredible. I bet a lot of mutants will want to come here.”
“First, we need to get the basic preparations, systems, and facilities in place. It’ll probably take quite some time, but I hope it gets done quickly.”
“That’s the federal and state governments’ job.”
“Still, I’m technically in charge… Oh, and I was thinking of giving you some impressive title too, unnie. What do you think?”
“No way. I’m already a Korean government employee. Dual employment’s not allowed here.”
“Oh, right.”
As we chatted like that, Si-ah and I talked about what kinds of mutants might end up living here in the future.
And back then, I had no idea, that asking the Governor of California to release the drone footage would create such massive waves.
The drone footage released to the media by the Governor of California shocked the entire United States.
An army of thousands of corpses, led by liches and Dullahans.
And the corpse dragon formed by gathering all those corpses.
It looked so unreal that people even said it had to be CGI.
But it wasn’t just some computer graphics.
It was a real entity created by the sacrifice of thousands of people.
And it was moving toward San Diego.
This wasn’t fiction—it had really happened.
People wondered: how on earth did anyone stop that monster?
And not long after, that question was answered.
A massive black shadow descended over the land, a jet-black dragon.
With a single breath attack, the corpse dragon melted away in an instant.
Then, immediately after the dragon was slain, the lich and Dullahan suddenly turned to ash and scattered into the wind.
Those who had heard bits and pieces about the situation in Mexico were stunned.
Because they already knew how horrifying those liches and Dullahans were.
The internet exploded.
People were curious about who that dragon was, and why a mutant would stop other mutants.
And it was the Governor of California who answered their questions.
In an official press conference, he introduced Seo-hyun to the American public, explaining what drove her to help the United States.
–Oh my god, she’s not an evil dragon—she’s the one who protected us!
–Guardian dragon!
–She’s a civil servant? From Korea?
–Wait, she’s a university student? That massive dragon? I can’t believe it!
–I heard she rushed over here just to save the U.S.!
Across online communities and throughout the U.S., interest in Seo-hyun skyrocketed.
People expressed overwhelming admiration for someone who boldly stepped in to save a foreign country in the face of national collapse.
Even in America, where mutants were typically rejected, Seo-hyun managed to establish herself as a true hero.
And now, Seo-hyun stood there, stunned, as a huge crowd of people came to find her.
The signs they held up were written in English.
“Welcome, Hero.”
Alongside words of thanks and cheers.
Truly, a sea of outstretched hands waiting to shake hers.